Fainting

Fainting is a sudden, brief loss of consciousness accompanied by a weakening of heart and respiratory activity. It occurs during a rapidly developing anemia of the brain and lasts from a few seconds to 5-10 minutes or more.

Signs: Fainting is a sudden onset of dizziness, dizziness, weakness and loss of consciousness. Fainting is accompanied by pallor and coldness of the skin. Breathing is slow, shallow, weak and sparse pulse (up to 40-50 beats per minute).

First aid – lay the victim on his back so that the head is slightly lowered and the legs raised. To facilitate breathing, free the neck and chest from tight clothing; cover the victim with something warm, put a heating pad at his feet; rub ammonia on the temples and give it to smell; splash his face with cold water. Artificial respiration is indicated for prolonged fainting. After the victim regains consciousness, give him hot coffee.

Prolonged compression syndrome

Prolonged compression of the soft tissues of parts of the body, lower or upper extremities may produce a severe condition called prolonged compression syndrome or traumatic toxemia. It is caused by the absorption into the blood of toxic substances that are the decay products of damaged soft tissues.

Having found a person in rubble, it is necessary to take measures to free him. The rubble is dismantled carefully, since it may collapse. Remove the victim only after his complete release from compression. Then examine him carefully. The injured part of the body may have abrasions and dents, repeating the outlines of the protruding parts of the pressed objects, the skin may be pale, bluish in places, cold to the touch. The injured limb will begin to swell rapidly after 30-40 minutes of release.

There are three periods during traumatic toxemia: early, intermediate and late. In the early period, immediately after injury and for 2 h, the affected person is agitated, consciousness is preserved, and he tries to free himself from the rubble, asking for help. After being in the rubble for more than 2 hours, there is an intermediate period. Toxic phenomena build up in the body. Excitement passes, the victim becomes relatively calm, gives signals about himself, answers questions, periodically may fall into a drowsy state, dry mouth, thirst, and general weakness are noted.

In the late period, the general condition of the victim worsens sharply: agitation appears, inadequate reaction to the surroundings, consciousness is disturbed, delirium occurs, chills, vomiting, pupils first strongly constrict and then dilate, the pulse is weak and frequent. In severe cases death occurs.

First aid – a sterile dressing is applied to wounds and abrasions. If the victim’s limbs are cold, bluish, badly injured, a tourniquet is applied above the place of compression. This stops the absorption of toxic substances from the crushed soft tissues into the bloodstream. The tourniquet should not be applied too tightly, so as not to completely disrupt the blood flow to the injured limbs. In cases where the limbs are warm to the touch and not severely damaged, they are covered with a tight bandage. After a tourniquet or a tight bandage is applied, a syringe-tube of an antipain agent is administered, and if it is not available, 50 g of vodka is given internally. Injured limbs even in the absence of fractures immobilize with splints or with improvised means.

Hot tea, coffee, drinking plenty of fluids with the addition of baking soda, 2-4 g per reception (up to 20-40 g per day) are indicated.

Soda helps to restore acid-base balance of the internal environment of the body, and drinking plenty of fluids – removal of toxic substances in the urine.

Victims with traumatic toxemia are quickly and gently delivered on a stretcher to a medical facility.

Traumatic shock

Traumatic shock is a life-threatening complication of severe injuries, characterized by disruption of the central nervous system, blood circulation, metabolism and other vital functions. The cause of shock can be single or repeated traumas. Particularly often, shock occurs during large bleeding, in winter time – when the wounded person is cold.

Depending on the time of appearance of signs of shock, it can be primary and secondary. Primary shock occurs at the time of injury or soon afterwards. Secondary shock can occur after care has been given to the injured person due to negligent transport or poor immobilization for fractures.

There are two phases in the development of traumatic shock – excitation and inhibition. Excitation phase develops immediately after trauma as a response of the body to the strongest painful stimuli. Thus the victim shows anxiety, rushes from pain, screams, asks for help. This phase is of short duration (10-20 minutes). It is followed by inhibition, with full consciousness the victim does not ask for help, his vital functions are oppressed: the body is cold, the face is pale, the pulse is weak, breathing is hardly noticeable.

There are four degrees of traumatic shock: mild, moderate, severe shock and extremely severe shock.

First aid is to put the injured person in a position of legs higher, head lower. Eliminate causes of breathing disturbance (ensure patency of upper airways, fix tongue if it is sunken, clean mouth, free neck and chest from constricting clothing, unbuckle trouser belt). Do mouth-to-mouth or mouth-to-nose resuscitation. For penetrating chest wounds, immediately cover the wound with several sterile cloths, securing them to the chest. Stop external bleeding. Apply a tourniquet for arterial bleeding, and apply pressure dressings for venous and capillary bleeding. In case of cardiac arrest perform indirect massage